Cameroon volcanic line; Earthquake; Factor of safety; Landslides; Mount Oku; Newmark displacement; Soil geomechanical properties; Geography, Planning and Development; Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality; Environmental Science (miscellaneous); Geotechnical Engineering and Engineering Geology; Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law
Abstract :
[en] Background: The landslide inventory of the western flank of Mount Oku, Cameroon, includes spreads or complex landslides, indicating sudden soil weakening, possibly due to seismic activity or heavy rainfall causing groundwater rise. These landslides were likely triggered between 2009 and 2018 based on the dates of the aerial imagery. Identifying triggers for past landslides remains a major unresolved issue in landslide science. However, understanding these triggers is crucial for accurately assessing future landslide hazards. Methodology: In this paper, we investigate the possibility of earthquakes to precondition landslide development or reactivation during climatic events. By assuming a magnitude 5.2 earthquake, an epicenter of 10 km from this area, and different wetness conditions, the factor of safety (FS) and Newmark displacement (ND) models were calculated for shallow and deep-seated landslides with sliding depths of 3 and 7.5 m. Afterward, the relationship between FS, assumed ND, and observed landslides was analyzed in a cluster analysis, to derive patterns of climatically and seismically triggered landslides. Results: The comparison of FS maps and FS values of the observed landslides revealed that especially for landslides at 7.5 m depth, most sites that are stable during dry conditions become instable under saturated conditions, indicating a climatic trigger. At 3 m depth, however, some landslide sites that are still marginally stable under saturated conditions, display relatively high ND values for the investigated hypothetical earthquake, indicating a possible seismic influence. In the cluster analysis, we clustered the observed landslides according to their distances to rivers and topographic ridges and obtained three clusters. Landslides from cluster 3 with 31% of the landslides display medium to high ND for the assumed earthquake, and were found near ridges and farther away from rivers, suggesting seismic triggering. Cluster 2, with 12% of landslides closer to rivers, suggested climatic origins. Thus, while climate is a critical landslide contributing factor, seismic events may also contribute, either by predisposing to landslides or by reactivating them alongside climatic factors. These results enable the establishment of more precise and effective landslide mitigating measures considering mostly rainfall but also earthquakes as possible triggers.
Disciplines :
Earth sciences & physical geography
Author, co-author :
Djukem, D.L.W.; State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, China
Braun, A.; Department of Engineering Geology, Institute of Applied Geosciences, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Fan, X.; State Key Laboratory of Geohazard Prevention and Geoenvironment Protection, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, China
Wouatong, A.S.L.; Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang, Cameroon
Fernandez-Steeger, T.M.; Department of Engineering Geology, Institute of Applied Geosciences, Technische Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Havenith, Hans-Balder ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Département de géologie > Géologie de l'environnement
Language :
English
Title :
Investigation of landslide triggers on Mount Oku, Cameroon, using Newmark displacement and cluster analysis
Publication date :
December 2024
Journal title :
Geoenvironmental Disasters
eISSN :
2197-8670
Publisher :
Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH
Tencent - Tencent Charity Foundation TUB - Technische Universität Berlin
Funding text :
We are thankful to the German Aerospace Center (DLR), which kindly provided the TanDEM-X DEM used for this landslide-susceptibility investigation.Open Access funding enabled and organized by Projekt DEAL. This research is financially supported by the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of China (Grant 42125702), the Natural Science Foundation Sichuan Province (Grant 22NSFSC0029), the Tencent Foundation through the XPLORER PRIZE (Grant XPLORER-2022-1012).
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